Dedication for the Ill and Deceased

Question: How can I develop a short but effective daily practice that will allow my Pure Land prayers to be of more benefit to the ill? How do I make dedications afterwards to benefit those already dead?

Response: The most basic practice is to chant "Amituofo" and then dedicate the merits from the practice to all beings. The dedication is as follows:

May the merits and virtues accrued from this work
adorn the Buddha’s Pure Land,
repay the Four Kindnesses above,
and relieve the sufferings of those
in the Three Paths below.

May those who see or hear of this
bring forth the Bodhi mind,
and at the end of this life,
be born together
in the Land of Ultimate Bliss.

With the line "relieve the suffering of those in the Three Paths below" we are dedicating the merits to all who suffer in the Desire Realm, the Form Realm, and the Formless Realm. So by saying this line, we are dedicating our merits to all who are ill.

Personally, after this dedication, I add my mother's and father's names saying "May my mother, Evelyn Bolender, and my father, Milton Bolender, be reborn as soon as possible into the Western Pure Land to end suffering and attain happiness." At our centers, the names of the deceased and the relationship to the deceased are written on paper plaques (paiwei) and placed on a special offering table. Those who are not Pure Land Buddhists could simply say the names, the relationship, and the wish that the deceased end suffering and attain happiness.

For those who wish to do a more comprehensive chanting session, an example of a session is on page 48-49 of In One Lifetime: Pure Land Buddhism.  You can obtain a pdf file of the book by clicking on the title. If you wish a hard copy of the book, please contact the Amitabha Buddhist Society of USA or the Amitabha Buddhist Library in Chicago.